On Apr 29, 2010, at 6:48 PM, Steve Hanson wrote:

> On 04/29/2010 01:20 PM, Ben wrote:
>> Wireless tethering can be done on non-rooted phones (i think) using
>> pda net: http://www.junefabrics.com/android/index.php
> 
> On 04/28/2010 07:21 PM, Thomas Lunde wrote:
> 
>>> Ben (or anyone else) -
>>> 
>>> Got a pointer to a good source for turning a Droid Eris running on
>>> Verizon into a wireless access point?  I'd prefer a recipe which does
>>> not require flipping the "I've been rooted" bit. 
>> 
> 
> No need to root anything --
> 
> Verizon has just released a bunch of new options for tethering with
> Android, and there's an introductory special going on.  I'm at the
> moment mail-ordering a Droid Incredible ----
> 
> http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband/?page=products_connect
> 


Sorry - I wasn't clear enough.  I'm familiar with tethering via USB and/or Bluetooth on various phones, but that's not what I'm talking about.  (BTW, you can't tether via Bluetooth with a Droid Eris until/unless Verizon releases the upgrade to Android 2.1 because 1.5 doesn't have a sufficient BT stack.)

I'd like to have the phone turn itself into a WiFi Access Point so that, e.g., I could get an iPad talking to it.  Other uses would include allowing everyone in a hotel room to get from their laptops to the phone via WiFi and then having the phone handle NAT, etc. so that the phone's 3G network connection could be shared.  

This is certainly possible:  Verizon's own MiFi does it.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband/?page=products_mifi

But, so far as I know, it's not a supported use of any of their phones.  There is zero technical reason for that, as the MiFi demonstrates. 

PdaNet, while nifty, doesn't address this.  Linux (which is why I brought this up on the TCLUG list) handles it with aplomb, but I don't know of a way to do this on phones without rooting them.

I realize that rooting is relatively low risk in terms of harm to the phone, but it does void the warranty.  And, apparently, there's a bit way down deep in the firmware/flash memory that gets flipped if the phone is rooted so that, even if it's flashed back to the original software, Verizon can see that it has been rooted in the past and therefore disclaim warranty coverage.

But maybe I'm out of date, which is why I'm hoping that someone on the list knows of a way to turn the phone into a WiFi AP...

Thanks for any pointers (so long as they're not dangling... *grin*)
Thomas